Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

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Hands-on impressions, new screens, and many movies.

By IGN Staff

There is not a lot left to say about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater that has not already been said. Even at the accelerated pace of the games industry these days, there is probably no other game that has so quickly become an institution, save perhaps for Grand Theft Auto's recent overnight transformation into a household name. That could, in theory, be a double-edged sword for the series, since while Activision now dictates that we get a new Tony Hawk every year, that necessarily means that Neversoft has to figure out how to make a new Tony Hawk every year. Around E3 time, there were rumblings that the series might have reached and passed its zenith -- that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 would see its developers burning out on their signature franchise.

Well, we will allow that its graphics engine is starting to show a few rough edges when you look at it closely, but otherwise, it looks like Tony Hawk is still steadily trucking along, with the usual dead-on controls and a new goal structure that adds a modicum of freedom to its progression. More or less every problem we had with Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 is corrected here -- there's now more to do and more freedom of choice as to when you do it. And it comes as no surprise that the level designs are brilliant, given that this is, after all, a Neversoft game.

The current version offers only three levels, but the goal structure seems consistent throughout. Every level has about 16 goals, each tied to a character as in Aggressive Inline, which can be triggered at any time. Only when you talk to someone and receive a challenge does a clock ever start ticking -- otherwise the career mode is like a string of free-skate sessions, where you have all the time you want to just tool around performing tricks and exploring the level. The goals are thus more clearly outlined, and it's easier to progress without growing frustrated, since there are so many more challenges to pick and choose from at once.

There are some pretty interesting challenges here beyond the usual get-five-widgets or score-this-much goals, too. Some of the new ones are variations on familiar themes -- trick off a particular object, or grab five letters with a single C-O-M-B-O -- but the street-luge run in the College level is something pretty different, as is the Alcatraz cart tour. That one sees your skater dragged along behind a tour guide's miniature truck, performing small stunts at key points along the way while skitching in between (since that maneuver is now available). There's a nice blend of scale as far as the tasks are concerned, with some simple ones and others that require a little more effort and commitment.

If the goal progression has been simplified into a sort of 16-piece Tony Hawk McNuggets box, the business of actually skating (what eventually occupies the bulk of any player's Tony Hawk time) is more complex than ever. Along with the new skitching controls, there's an automatic spine transfer for going over coping, and a biel command to land safely after going out the end of a halfpipe (again, similar to Aggressive Inline). Subtler tweaks may also have been made in the interim -- manual balance feels a little less forgiving, while it seems like rail balance could be a little more so -- but it will take more time to feel out differences like that.

The levels are also far bigger than Hawk 3, with an equivalent density of architecture and more of the cool verticality from levels like the old Tokyo competition run. You can actually get a little lost in spots like Alcatraz, although the localized nature of each goal means that's never really a hindrance to your progression. There's always a line or goal nearby to occupy your attention.